In a departure from past events, CJP 2025 kicked off with what is traditionally one of the most popular convention sessions. Textron Aviation President and CEO Ron Draper led a presentation on the company’s ongoing Citation programs, with company personnel detailing their efforts to better serve CJP members.
Draper announced FAA certifications for the M2 Gen2, CJ3 Gen2, Citation Ascend and the G3000 upgrade to the Citation Latitude are imminent. “These are the near-term projects,” he added. “We have others unannounced that are in the pipeline. We’re really excited about the future.”
In particular, Draper noted the impact CJP members have on the development of upcoming aircraft, particularly the CJ3 Gen2. “This group was particularly influential in suggesting what features should go into that [aircraft],” he added. “We’re on the two yard line for getting that certified with the FAA.”
Gen2 aircraft are also designed to support future upgrades Draper expects will be popular with CJP members. “We are provisioning those airplanes so that you could purchase a service bulletin and add [Garmin’s] Autoland into your Gen2,” he noted.
Draper also highlighted the upcoming Citation Special Olympics Airlift to transport athletes to and from the 2026 edition of the quadrennial Games in Minneapolis, MN. In a video message to CJP members, honorary chairman Dierks Bentley rallied Citation and Premier pilots to donate their time and aircraft.
“This is one of those powerful things you can do with your aircraft,” said Bentley, an award-winning country artist who flies a CJ4. “This is giving these incredible athletes a first-class experience and showing them how much we believe in them. Let’s make this the biggest and most impactful airlift yet!”
The discussion also included a summary of market conditions for pre-owned, current production Citation models by Cody Honeyman, director of preowned sales. While the market has stabilized from the heady days of the COVID-19 pandemic, values remain steady for many Citation models.
“Recall that 12 months ago there was a lot of uncertainty,” he said. “We had election cycle, new international conflicts were going on and we were still fighting some supply chain challenges. A lot of that has subsided.”
As a result, available preowned Citation inventory overall has decreased from 4.7 percent across the fleet in 2024, to 4.3 percent. The seller’s market is even stronger for late model Citations less than 10 years old: 2.4 percent of that fleet currently on the market, compared to 2.9 percent last year.
As of the September 4 presentation, 27 C510 Mustangs were for sale out of the fleet of 472, with transaction prices ranging from $1.475 – $2.35 million. Turning to newer model CJ3s, the most popular type among CJP owners, “those hover around that 8-10 percent range of the total fleet per sale,” Honeyman said. “It’s still pretty healthy with under an eight percent absorption rate.”
The presentation also featured a panel answering CJP member questions regarding parts availability, production capacity and other concerns from the community.
Jimmy Beeson, vice-president of product development for Textron Aviation, said the company continues to work through order backlogs. “One way we’re addressing this is by investing in our people with the Career Learning Center and the investments we’re making in our facilities. As those come online, we’re well positioned to meet the demand in the future.”
Preston Brunswig, Director of ProAdvantage programs, acknowledged continued challenges with certain parts, particularly for legacy Citation and Beech Premier airframes. “The good news is we’re back to pre-COVID [shipping times] over 90% of the time. You call us today, we’re going to ship that part today,” he added.
“There are still some pain points on the windshield side, precoolers, etc.,” he continued. “We have developed a customer response team to coordinate between you and our supply chain team. Those individuals are there to talk to you every day. As we get feedback and see trends emerging, we utilize systematic processing to forecast what parts we need to get out in the market, from serviceable perspective, to help support you and get you there faster.”
Connectivity is another hot topic among CJP members, with Draper noting the majority of mods and STCs requested through Textron Aviation’s service network are related to it and, in particular, the potential for adding Starlink Mini receivers as a portable, lower-cost option.
“We bought one, we’ve tested it and we’re looking at potential planning solutions,” added Daniel Lyon, VP of aftermarket sales at Textron Aviation. “We’re waiting for the FAA to come out with some kind of final guidance on that.” And while some Citation operators have already added Starlink Minis to their aircraft, Lyon cautioned them not to move too quickly.
“It’s kind of a missed area as far as the regulations go, and we believe that [the FAA] will be issuing some higher classification,” he said. “What that means, we don’t know yet, but they’re not going to treat [Starlink] like a typical personal electronic device like your phone. The power output of these devices is much higher.”
When asked if Textron Aviation is exploring possible STCs for permanent Starlink outer antenna mounts, as seen on a growing number of larger business jet platforms, Lyons offered a blunt “no.” However, he added the company is working on several STCs with Gogo Galileo, which uses the Eutelsat OneWeb LEO satellite network.
“We’re also advising Starlink there may be a market for a smaller [antenna] version for light jets,” Lyons continued. “We’re getting your voice out there and advocating for you that it’s something they should be looking at.”